


it's killing time on this fateful day (see you at the bitter end)

by BlackAngelis



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Despair, Gen, Love/Hate, Mother-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25054366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackAngelis/pseuds/BlackAngelis
Summary: "I always wanted to be there when they execute your sister."Sansa never knew Cersei's execution would also be her own.
Relationships: Cersei Lannister & Sansa Stark
Comments: 16
Kudos: 34





	it's killing time on this fateful day (see you at the bitter end)

After killing Ramsay, after watching him die with delight, Sansa thought that she was no longer a stupid girl with stupid dreams.

The day she sees a dragon flying through the sky and breathing fire and fury, setting fire to Winterfell, to her home, she realizes that she was entirely wrong.

She didn't like Daenerys, she didn't want to trust her but she did because Jon asked her to. She didn't know this, of course, but it was her final mistake, the most terrible one she ever made.

Now all she can do is fall to her knees and watch as this madwoman burns everything she's ever known to the ground. She closes her eyes and hopes that she'll burn too, that she'll melt like snow so that she no longer has to watch her world fall apart.

Sansa Stark wants to go like a wolf, and she screams one last time.

.

She doesn't die, of course.

.

She's lying on a bed of ashes when two purple eyes appear from nowhere.

"I'm glad you're alive," Daenerys says.

"Why? You burned my family along with my home. Just kill me already and put an end to my misery."

Her heart is on fire, she prays that the pain will kill her.

"I won't. Not now, anyway. I think you need to see someone before."

"What are you talking about?"

Daenerys ignores her and begins to walk among the rubble. Sansa doesn't try to flee – she has nowhere to go, everything went up in smoke, just like her hopes and dreams.

For the first time, a glint of sadness and sorrow appears in Daenerys's glowing eyes.

"You're very lucky, you know. I never knew my mother, I never got to say goodbye."

"My mother is dead."

"I'm talking about your _other_ mother. The one who taught you everything – including betrayal."

Sansa feels like her heart stops beating when she understands what Daenerys means.

"No," she whispers.

The Dragon Queen grabs her arm and makes her stand up.

"Let's go. I'm sure she'll be very glad to see you again after all this time."

.

"It's a shame, you know," Daenerys says right before attacking King's Landing. "We could have been allies. We could have been friends. I liked you, I really did. But you betrayed me when you told Tyrion the truth about Jon's birth. You're the reason why they both burned."

"How could you do this? You loved Jon... Tyrion was your Hand... and it didn't matter at all to you, you just killed them as if they meant nothing."

"You're wrong. I loved them, I loved them both. But they betrayed me. I've been betrayed too many times in my life."

She doesn't say another word and mounts Drogon.

For the second time, Sansa sees the world go up in flames.

.

She feels sorry for Daenerys. Her story is a tragic one. She wanted to be a good queen, she really did.

All she will ever be is Queen of the ashes.

.

The Red Keep falls but Daenerys hasn't destroyed it completely. She's looking for someone.

Sansa hopes that she's already dead, so that she doesn't have to see her again.

As usual, no one hears her prayers.

.

Life is full of irony, Sansa thinks when Daenerys takes her to a cell as she sings _The Rains of Castamere._

In the end, she's going to get exactly what she wanted – she's going to watch Cersei die. She almost smiles when she sees her sitting on the floor, covered in ash, her dress ripped, her eyes red. The fallen Queen seems puzzled to see her.

 _I always wanted to be there when they execute your sister_ , she told Jaime.

Sansa never knew Cersei's execution would also be her own.

.

Daenerys leaves them alone, laughing, not even bothering to close the door and they don't say a word, they just stare at each other for a long time.

"What happened to your hair?" Sansa asks, frowning.

Years apart and it feels like it's the only thing she has to say.

"A walk of shame. Not a very pleasant moment, but I'm sure you would have liked to see it. What happened to yours?"

Sansa runs her fingers through her burned hair, realizing for the first time what has become of it.

"The dragon. She burned everything. Winterfell. My family. Your brothers."

Cersei blinks, she isn't even surprised.

"I knew Jaime was dead. I felt it."

"What?"

"I woke up screaming in the middle of the night as if something had been ripped out of me. I knew... I knew he was gone."

Her voice breaks as she finishes talking.

"I'm glad I'll be joining him soon."

"So you give up."

"I have nothing left to live for. No twin. No children. No throne."

She points at the open door.

"And she knows that. That's why she didn't even close it."

Sansa doesn't reply and looks down, thinking of Jon, Arya, Bran, the ones she loves, the ones she'll see again very soon.

"Life hasn't been kind to you, little dove."

"No," she admits, her tears falling quietly. "But you haven't been kind to me either."

She thinks of what Daenerys said. _Your mother. The one who taught you everything._

"I loved you, you know, when I arrived in King's Landing," she snaps, voice burning with rage. "I admired you. I wanted to be like you, I wanted to make you _proud_."

"I know."

"And yet you let your son beat me, humiliate me, you tormented me, you-"

"I was scared of you."

Sansa's eyes widen in shock.

"What?"

Cersei sighs.

"I was told a prophecy a long time ago. There was something about a younger and more beautiful queen who would cast me down and take all that I held dear."

"That's nonsense."

"Is it? Look around you, little dove. The younger and more beautiful queen came – but it wasn't you. I was wrong."

"How could you think it would be me?"

"You reminded me of myself. I had hopes and illusions too, once. I wanted to be a great queen. They all shattered to pieces when I was sold off to Robert Baratheon."

Sansa remembers how Littlefinger sold her off to Ramsay Bolton, how her husband raped her, beat her, tortured her.

She remembers how she killed him – just like Cersei killed Robert.

No one saved them, no one came for them – not Jaime, not Jon, anyone. They had to save themselves.

Life hasn't been kind to Sansa.

But is hasn't been kind to Cersei either.

.

They both keep staring at the door. It would be easy to run away, but what for?

.

"I thought you were pregnant."

"I am."

"Then why don't you run? Don't you want to live for your baby?"

"It won't live anyway."

"How can you know that?"

"The prophecy... it also said I would only have three children."

Cersei is a broken, haunted woman who seems to be done fighting in a world where the dice are loaded.

"You're still young, little dove. Run. Run, find somewhere to hide. Life hasn't been kind to you and here you are. You've survived every monster you've ever met. You can survive this one."

Sansa shakes her head, her tears start falling again.

"I don't want to survive. I just want to live."

She used to think that life was a song like the ones she loved when she was a little girl, but she was wrong, and she has learned it to her sorrow.

She wipes her tears away. She thought that when she saw Cersei again she would be strong, she would be brave, fearless, she thought she wouldn't show her how broken she is now.

She finally understands that there's no need to pretend.

Cersei is as broken as she is.

.

The broken she-wolf and the broken lioness, both defeated and burned by the mad dragon.

How fitting it is.

.

"Daenerys told me that I was going to see my mother before dying."

"Your mother is dead."

"She was talking about my _other_ mother. The one who taught me everything."

Cersei's mouth falls open when she understands who Sansa is talking about. Water gathers in her eyes – tears of sadness, tears of joy, she doesn't know.

"Would you like to feel your mother's arms around you one last time, Sansa?"

She closes her eyes and nods. Some peace before burning, some love. Cersei's embrace is strong, she gently strokes what's left of her raid hair.

"Are you afraid?" Sansa asks. "When I was a little girl, I thought that queens were never afraid."

"I am."

"I thought I would be glad to watch you burn."

"Will you?"

"No. I'm tired. I'm tired of meeting monsters wherever I go. I'm tired of war. I'm tired of this bloody game of thrones."

Cersei doesn't reply, wonders whether death will bring them some peace.

The door is still open.

.

She thought her children were all dead, but she was wrong.

Cersei still has a daughter.

Sansa still has a mother.

Their bond is special, it was forged in love and hate alike and it's real, it's here and it's _something_.

They look into each other's eyes.

"I still hate you," Sansa says.

"I know."

"But... but there's more than hate between us, isn't there?"

"You're right."

"And... maybe that's something worth living for."

"Maybe."

They glance at the door.

"Can you run, Sansa?"

"I can."

"Good."

Sansa helps Cersei stand up and takes her hand.

The lioness and the she-wolf won't burn today.

.

"Cersei?"

"Yes?"

"What's going to happen to us? She's going to look for us."

"And she won't find us."

"Why?"

"Because we're survivors. And we're going to live."

A new fire is burning in her green eyes, the fire of determination.

The fire of survivors.

So Sansa lets Cersei take her hand and they start running again.

**Author's Note:**

> The title comes from the song "The bitter end" by Placebo.


End file.
